Growing up, TheLegend of Zelda had a huge impact on my teenage years. I found that my love for Zelda grew stronger as new installments and remakes were released, and Skyward Sword always had a very special place in my heart. The game features my favorite incarnation of Zelda; a fearless, affectionate, compassionate, and adventurous young girl who develops a strong friendship with Link in the beginning of the game. Zelda had always been a character that I looked forward to in a new Legend of Zelda game, and the Zelda presented in Skyward Sword is one that I still look up to and identify with to this day.

As a shy young gamer, I had a difficult time connecting with very mature or serious female characters that I encountered. I would aspire to be more confident or headstrong like them, but sometimes I found myself feeling intimidated by their character traits since they differed from my own bashful and passive nature. It was challenging to find a character that I related to at times, but I continued searching through each game I played for characters who really spoke to me. The first time that I ever felt that way was when I picked up Skyward Sword and loaded it onto my friend’s Wii system. We decided that we wanted to play the first couple hours of the game together, and I was so excited to be able to experience the adventures of The Legend of Zelda once again in a new installment. Looking back on it now, I am so glad that I was with a close friend when playing the introduction of this game for the very first time. In that first hour, we were introduced to an incarnation of Zelda that we both fell in love with. Her compassionate nature and playful interactions with Link immediately helped me to identify with Zelda.

She was brave, but also kind. She was soft-spoken, yet out-spoken when it came to defending her friends. Her demeanor and actions made me feel a strong connection to her character.

I believe that Skyward Sword‘s Zelda will always remain my favorite Zelda, especially since we get a great outlook on her personality and beliefs in the beginning of the game. Her character traits felt similar to my own, and I kept rooting for her to conquer evil and escape her kidnapper. This provided me with even more motivation as Link to save my princess from evil forces and bring her back home.